Racing Weather to Cape May

Day #10, Saturday, June 5, 2010
Time of Report: 2130 Z
Position: 37.26N , -73.57W
Heading: North, Northeast
Speed: 6 knots over the water

The last blog posting "Slicker than Chicken Teriyaki" was a little late in getting reported, my apologies for that. The race is on to Cape May as winds are expected to be between 20 and 25 knots by the time they arrive tomorrow. Winds at the time of this report were South, Southwest from 10 to 15 knots. They are sailing with full sails (they took out the reefs) and are about 100 miles from Cape May and expect to be there in the morning.

Dinner was simple - Veggie Soup.
Woody reported that his best purchase and most highly used item is his GO ANYWHERE chair that he bought from West Marine. He referred to it as his "BarcaLounger". Note the difference between the two!


Looking forward to getting an update directly from Woody tomorrow or on Monday when he settles in to Cape May! And I'll close with this fine quote, by Mark Twain:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Tracy ;)

Nothing Slicker than Chicken Teriyaki

Day #9, Friday, June 4, 2010
Time of Report: 2100 Z
Position: 35.67 , -72.94
Heading: North, Northeast
Speed: 6.3 knots, on a port tack reach, with a lot of help from the gulf stream

Woody & JD reported electrical problems and are heading towards Cape May, NJ to get it fixed and should be there on Sunday. There's such little electricity at this point, they are not able to run the GPS. Part of the challenge is the wind is coming over the stern and the speed of the boat isn't generating enough "ummph" to produce the electricity. The solar panel is generating a little, but not enough. The engine is running fine though. They will likely stay in Cape May for the week, as a bad weather system is forecasted, and both the weather router and weather man (BT) advised he stays off the water for this type of storm which is estimated to have winds of 40+ knots, coming from the wrong direction and huge waves.

Thursday night Chef JD made Chicken Teriyaki. Woody ate his portion and JD decided to hold out on his as he wasn't feeling particularly well. He left his portion in the pot, on the stove and not long after, Woody headed into the cabin for his 4 hour sleep. The place where they sleep is on the floor, in the cabin which is about 7.5 feet long and 1.5 feet wide. The winds started to pick up to about 20 knots and there were thunderstorms happening all around, and they were trying to dodge the lightening too. Jubilee started rockin' and rollin' and the JD's chicken teriyaki slung out of the pot, all over Woody and the inside of the boat. As Woody was recounting this story, in between laughs he said "if you ever need a good lubricant, try teriyaki!". Chicken and Brocoli was on the menu for Friday night.

Woody did note that being out in the big ocean, in the middle of the night, when it's pitch black dark, with nothing in sight and hearing the rumbling of the thunder and watching the lightning in the sky can generate some anxiety! Overall Captain and Crew are doing well!

For the record, and as a follow up to the last blog posting, the stowaway "walked the plank" yesterday.

More again soon! Tracy